Mississippi Gambling

Mississippian Gambling Information

Gambling is legal in Mississippi. Persons under the age of 21 are not permitted to participate in any form of gaming. There is currently no state lottery, but several cities have their own private lotteries. No one under the age of 21 can buy lottery tickets.

While there are many states with more casinos and gambling establishments than Mississippi, there are few U.S. states where gambling has more of an impact on the economy. The Mississippi gambling industry is the single biggest employer in the state. When many of the southern Mississippi casinos shut down operations (sometimes for months) in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the effects were felt by a sizable percentage of the Mississippi work force.

Lottery Restrictions in Mississippi

A person creating an illegal lottery can receive up to 5 years in prison. A person advertising for a prohibited lottery can receive up to three months in jail. Those selling tickets receive between 10 days and 2 months in jail. If a person buys an illegal lottery ticket, that gambler can receive a $25 fine or up to 10 days in jail. Both punishments can be levied.

Casinos in Mississippi

There are 32 casinos in Mississippi. Twenty of these are riverboat casinos, which leave from Bay St. Louis, Biloxi, Gulfport, Gainesville, Lula, Natchez, Vicksburg and Tunica. There are brick-and-mortar Native American casinos in Philadelphia and other land casinos in Robinsonville. Tunica, Gulfport and Biloxi all have land casinos.

Riverboat Casinos in Mississippi

Most of the casinos you'll find in Mississippi are of the river boat variety. That's because state laws allow certain forms of gambling on water that they wouldn't allow on land. These riverboats are generally moored to the wharf and never move an inch. A few of the Mississippi riverboats along the coast were hit hard by Hurricane Katrina, and a few took over a year to rebuild.

Mississippi Gambling Losses

One law in Mississippi fascinates me. I've seen this in several other states, but I've never seen a state law which focuses primarily on the cockfighting and dog fighting like the Mississippi law does. This is certainly an indication of what goes on in rural Mississippi. During the recent Michael Vick dog fighting scandal, for instance, Washington Redskins star running back, Clinton Portis, gave another hint of dog fighting in Mississippi.

Portis, who grew up in Laurel, Mississippi, said he could take reporters down "a lot of back roads" if they wanted to see dog fighting. Clinton Portis portrayed the activity as a matter-of-fact part of life in small town Mississippi. People inside the NFL and in the state of Mississippi rushed to condemn these comments and contradict them.

While I would recommend avoiding illegal dog fighting or cock fighting rings, it's interesting to note these laws exist, supposedly to discourage gambling on the "sports". Anyway, here is the law.

Mississippi Dog Fighting Law

Gamblers cannot bet on cockfighting or dog fighting in Mississippi. This is a major problem in the rural areas of the state. Old laws exist which outlaw dueling as a form of gambling. Indian ball play is another activity outlawed under Mississippi laws. These activities usually incur fines. If these fines are not paid, the criminal gambler can spend up to 90 days in jail.

If a person loses money at games like horse racing, cock fighting or dog fighting, that person may sue for a return of this money from the person who took it. The losing gambler also can sue for court costs. The losing gambler's wife or children also have the righ to sue. These laws do not apply to games that take place on cruise ships leaving from Mississippi's three southermost counties.